Four Reasons Why Superman Is Doing Better Than Fantastic Four
4. People Are Burnt Out From The MCU
It's pretty safe to say that post-Endgame of the MCU has been very disappointing. Not only is there a lack of direction but a lot of the films/TV shows being pumped out have been mediocre to bad. Aside, from Guardians Vol 3, Thunderbolts and the new Fantastic Four film, there have not been any films that I or other fans of the MCU has really connected too. The constant reshoots of Marvel projects and the inability to tie the movies into the Disney+ shows is just frustrating at this point. Between the TV shows and flms the MCU has now become a homework assignment in terms of what you have to watch or re-watch to understand the next project coming out.
3. Fantastic Four's Previous Bad Portrayal's On The Big Screen
Aside, from Man Of Steel the previous Superman films (at least in my opinion) have been fairly decent. Compared to the previous Fantastic Four films there isn't a Superman film that's as terrible or worse than Fant4stic. Just like Superman for years Fantastic Four hasn't been making a big splash on the big screen because there wasn't anyone that was truly passionate about both characters to create an authentic story about them.
The reason why everyone was excited about Superman was because while his films haven’t had the cultural impact as the Sami Rami films, or the Christopher Nolan Dark Knight trilogy Superman has still been in the public eye for years. Rather it's because of the DCAU, or through live action TV shows such as Smallville or Superman & Lois. Fantastic Four hasn't had a lot of appearances in animated TV shows or films. Compared to Superman, the first family of Marvel hasn’t really had any standout performances on the big screen or on a smaller scale through TV series.
2. The Marketing Has Been Better
After seeing both films it's obvious that a lot of thought and care was put into properly bringing these massive superheroes on the big screen in the right way. Both Marvel and DC has done an excellent job at finally getting these two heroes right on the big screen which fans have been begging for years. Just leading up to the release of both films, James Gunn has been promoting Superman like a cultural event. Not only has the promotion of the film revitalize people's love for the, “big blue boyscout” but non-comic fans are now wanting to get more into Superman comics because of it.
For years Superman has been poorly portrayed on the big screen and now because of James Gunn he feels just as important to pop culture than ever before. I think what also helped is that James Gunn is very interactive with fans on Twitter (yes, I still call it that) and him discussing the casting process to why he wanted to do this film and even comic books that helped shaped version of Superman was very exciting to hear. This was a passion project for James Gunn and as a Superman fan seeing how much time and care was put into this film was very heartwarming to see.
1. People Are More Excited About The Future Of The DCU
For the final reason as to why The Fantastic Four: First Steps isn't doing so well as Superman is because James Gunn's future plans for the DCU. James Gunn has set up a 10-year plan for the DCU and the best part about it is that while all the projects are connected in a way they're not going to split any of the movies in any phases like Marvel does. I think not having any kind of end goal helps the projects stand on it's own as opposed to waiting to see if certain films are going to set up a group project like Suicide Squad, Titans or even Justice League.
For years comic fans have been clamoring to see the Batfamily be brought to screen and now that we're finally getting them it is very exciting. Even characters casual movie goers are unfamiliar with like: Mister Terrific, Booster Gold, Swamp Thing, among others. Seeing a proper DCU being built that actually feels an authentic comic book world being brought to life is something fans have been asking for since the DCEU.
